Lady Highlanders hit late 3 to knock off Lady Chants

Despite a career-high 27 points from junior AJ Jordan, Coastal Carolina was dealt a 63-62 defeat Thursday at The HTC Center as Radford’s Ayana Avery connected on the game-winning 3-pointer with 32 second to play.

The game, which featured 21 ties and nine lead changes, came down to the final 1:20 with Radford holding a 60-58 lead. Coastal’s Kayla Cook drove the lane and was fouled making the layup with 1:11 to play. The senior completed the 3-point play to give the Chants a 61-60 edge. Radford missed a jumper on its ensuing possession and Jena Hamrick was fouled after controlling the rebound. Hamrick split the pair at the line, pushing the Chant to a 62-61 lead, with 49 seconds showing on the clock.

Following a timeout, RU’s Avery rolled off a screen on the left wing and drained her fourth 3-pointer of the night, leaving the visitors with a 63-62 lead with 32 ticks remaining. Coastal played for the final shot of the game, but it was not to be as Jordan’s mid-range jumper missed the rim and was not put back before the shot clock expired. The Highlanders’ inbound pass with 1.4 seconds to play was intercepted by Hamrick; however, the clock expired before the junior was able to get a shot off.

Jordan led Coastal (10-11, 6-6 Big South) and all scorers with her career-high 27 points on 12-of-24 from the field. She also corralled 11 rebounds to score her sixth double-double of the season. Katelyn Connor was the Chants’ second-leading scorer with seven points. Savanah Pippin totaled nine rebounds and a career-high six blocks in her 13 minutes off the bench.

Radford (4-17, 2-10 Big South) was led by Avery’s 19 points and eight rebounds. She was joined in double-figures by Breshara Gordan’s 14 points along with Aisha Foy’s and Kiera McIvor’s 10 points each.

For the game, Coastal Carolina shot 34.4 percent (21-of-61), including 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from beyond the arc. The Highlanders finished shooting 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the floor. The Chants controlled the boards with a 41-40 advantage, while Radford owned a 26-20 edge in points in the paint.